What Is Access Control? – Network Cybersecurity Systems

Access Control Definition

Access control is a data security process that enables organizations to manage who is authorized to access corporate data and resources. Secure access control uses policies that verify users are who they claim to be and ensures appropriate control access levels are granted to users.

Implementing access control is a crucial component of web application security, ensuring only the right users have the right level of access to the right resources. The process is critical to helping organizations avoid data breaches and fighting attack vectors, such as a buffer overflow attack, KRACK attack, on-path attack, or phishing attack.

What Are the Components of Access Control?

Access control is managed through several components:

1. Authentication

Authentication is the initial process of establishing the identity of a user. For example, when a user signs in to their email service or online banking account with a username and password combination, their identity has been authenticated. However, authentication alone is not sufficient to protect organizations’ data. 

2. Authorization

Authorization adds an extra layer of security to the authentication process. It specifies access rights and privileges to resources to determine whether the user should be granted access to data or make a specific transaction. 

For example, an email service or online bank account can require users to provide two-factor authentication (2FA), which is typically a combination of something they know (such as a password), something they possess (such as a token), or something they are (like a biometric verification). This information can also be verified through a 2FA mobile app or a thumbprint scan on a smartphone.

3. Access

Once a user has completed the authentication and authorization steps, their identity will be verified. This grants them access to the resource they are attempting to log in to.

4. Manage

Organizations can manage their access control system by adding and removing the authentication and authorization of their users and systems. Managing these systems can become complex in modern IT environments that comprise cloud services and on-premises systems.

5. Audit

Organizations can enforce the principle of least privilege through the access control audit process. This enables them to gather data around user activity and analyze that information to discover potential access violations.